3 concerns the Mets have ahead of the Braves series

2) The absence of Starling Marte means others must step up at the plate. 

The Mets received word on Wednesday that Starling Marte’s finger isn’t completely healed and there is no timetable for him to return, which is another tough break for the team. Marte was excellent for the Mets in his first season with the team, batting .292 with 16 home runs, 76 runs scored, 18 stolen bases, and a career high 132 OPS+.  

The Mets have felt the absence of Starling Marte from their lineup for much of the past three weeks, because of the lack of dynamic offensive players that make the whole offense better. Fortunately, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Eduardo Escobar have stepped up to prevent September from being an abject disaster. 

As a result, the lineup has felt a lot shorter, and it has particularly exposed the bottom of the lineup as it hasn’t produced the way they did earlier this year. It is going to take someone like Mark Vientos or Daniel Vogelbach to produce and make the lineup feel longer. 

Marte’s latest setback might feel big if the Mets can’t sustain rallies like they have all year, and it felt like Marte was involved in many of those magical sequences that have brought the Mets to this point.